The field of the invention relates generally to administrative systems for institutional environments, and more specifically to video visitation systems for correctional facilities.
Various types of institutional facilities are known that house residents in a controlled environment. Activities of residents in such controlled environments are restricted, and a high degree of supervision is exercised over the residents. As a result, significant administrative difficulties exist in such institutional environments that do not necessarily exist in other environments. Among such institutional environments housing residents in a controlled environment are hospitals, convalescent homes, long term care facilities, nursing homes, psychiatric facilities, rehabilitation facilities and developmental disability facilities, and correctional facilities such as prisons and jails housing incarcerated individuals, often referred to as inmates.
Correctional facilities such as jails and prisons allow inmates to visit with friends and family in-person as well as to communicate telephonically within predetermined limits. Visits with family and friends allow inmates to maintain those relationships despite incarceration. Such visits with family and friends are important to the mental wellbeing of inmates, and are a predominate factor in the rehabilitation and reentry of inmates into society upon their release from the correctional facility.
In-person visits with inmates at a correctional facility are therefore highly beneficial but present certain challenges to facility administrators. Such in-person visits have to be closely supervised to ensure the safety of visitors, to prevent contraband from being introduced into the institution, and to deter inmates from conducting or ordering nefarious activities in concert with a visitor, who may be knowing or unknowing of an inmate's intent to use them in a nefarious plan. Such concerns are typically manageable using known security protocols and procedures, but in view of the issues involved most correctional facilities can only accommodate a relatively small number of in-person visits at any given time. Some inconvenience on the part of visitors may result in their inability to visit with an inmate at certain times, and this can be an impediment to in-person visits even when the visitor lives relatively close to the correctional facility where the inmate is incarcerated.
When family, friends, and acquaintances live far away from a facility where an inmate is incarcerated, in-person visits may occur infrequently or may not occur at all. Time and costs to commute long distances to meet in-person with an inmate may render them prohibitive to certain family, friends and acquaintances that otherwise may be interested in maintaining a relationship with the inmates.
Telephonic communication allows more convenient communication across long distances, but tends to be less personal.
Improvements in facilitating meaningful contact between inmates and visitors at increased convenience to the visitors, and while alleviating the challenges of correctional facility administrators are desired.